46 THE WHALEMAN ; OR, 



ships in sight were under double-reefed topsails ; 

 beatins:. 



Passed East Cape. Saw whales, but they 

 were working quickly to the north ; we followed 

 them in their track with all the sail we could car- 

 ry on the ship ; they came to loose, floating ice, 

 into which they went and shortly disappeared. 

 A novel, and yet a common sight was now wit- 

 nessed ; the ice was covered with a vast number 

 of walruses, which, to appearance, extended 

 many miles. 



The weather being fine for the season, the last 

 part of June, in company with the Almira, Cap- 

 tain Jenks, we concluded we would go into the 

 ice again, and if good fortune would have it so, 

 we might capture a few whales. 



Accidents occur not unfrequently when least 

 expected, and sad ones, too, arise sometimes from 

 the slightest circumstance, or inattention. Con- 

 tact with icebergs, or large masses of block ice, 

 when a ship is under sail, is highly dangerous. A 

 momentary relaxation of vigilance on the part 

 of the mariner may bring the ship's bows on the 

 submerged part of an iceberg, whose sharp, nee- 

 dle-like points, hard as rock, instantly pierce the 

 planks and timbers of a ship, and perhaps open 

 a fatal leak. Many lamentable shipwrecks have 

 doubtless resulted from this cause. In the long, 



